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Monday, December 29, 2014

Guess what day it is today? It's release day for The Two Gentlemen of Altona, the first in JA Rock's and my Playing the Fool series. Here's what Riptide has to say about the series:

Mac and Henry aren’t just an odd couple—they’re completely improbable: a tough-as-nails, by-the-book FBI agent who picked the wrong week to give up caffeine and donuts, and a young con man who’s as handsome as he is difficult to pin down. But when they’re stuck on the run together, the snark and heat reach Shakespearean proportions. Or maybe that’s just Henry’s flair for the dramatic.

Rural Indiana has never seen an accidental crime-fighting duo quite like this. But when the danger’s over and the play’s done, Mac and Henry may have to write their own script to find a happy ending.

And here's the blurb for The Two Gentlemen:

Mischief, thou art afoot.

Special Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness is having a rough week. Not only is he on a new diet, but he’s also been tasked with keeping Henry Page—the world’s most irritating witness—alive. Which is tough when Mac’s a breath away from killing the Shakespeare-quoting, ethically-challenged, egg-obsessed Henry himself. Unless killing isn’t really what Mac wants to do to him.

Con man Henry Page prefers to keep his distance from the law . . . though he wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to uptight, handsome Agent McGuinness. As the sole witness to a mob hit, Henry’s a valuable asset to the FBI. But he’s got his own agenda, and it doesn’t involve testifying.

When evidence surfaces of a mole in the FBI office, Mac and Henry are forced to go into hiding. Holed up in a fishing cabin, they’re surprised to discover that their feelings run more than skin deep. But as the mob closes in, Henry has to make his escape. And Mac has to decide how far he’s willing to go to keep Henry by his side.

And if you want to win some absolutely awesome prizes--seriously, these are such cool prizes I want to keep them myself--then don't forget to follow our blog tour and leave a comment for your chance to win. I mean, there is junk food at stake here! Don't miss out!

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Anyone who knows me knows that I love my
Sterek fanfic. For those who don’t know me but have somehow stumbled upon this
post, Sterek is fanfiction based on the slash pairing of Stiles/Derek from the
TV show Teen Wolf. I’m also quite fond of Steter, which is Stiles/Peter. And
I’ve read a few Stisaacs I totally enjoyed, which is Stiles/Isaac. You guys
have all spotted the common denominator right? Yeah, I just love Stiles. And
who doesn’t?

But back to the shitfight.

Lately, a lot of enthusiastic readers have
been adding Sterek fanfiction to the Goodreads database. This has upset some
fanfiction writers. I don’t know how many, and I don’t know how representative
they are of the fanfiction community.

Fair warning: I may be quite vague in this
post, because I’m not going to name names, and I’m not going to link to Tumblr
posts. Why? Because I’m writing this post to get my thoughts in order, not to
call out anyone whose opinion may be different to my own. I welcome discussion
or debate wherever you find this post, but I won’t be taking it to anyone
else’s virtual doorstep.

What is Goodreads?

Initially, it seemed like some of the
fanfic writers thought that their works were being uploaded to Goodreads. This
is absolutely not the case. Goodreads is a catalogue, and any published work
including work published online can be added by users. And, once it’s in the
database, any user can review any work. That review is then shared on a
timeline with the reviewer’s friends. It is also visible under the work’s main page.
Users can like reviews, and comment on reviews, and reviews show up in our
timelines. I found a lot of great Sterek fics because friends raved about them,
and I’m not going to apologize for that.

One thing I will say about GR is that it’s not just meant for
professionally published and edited works. It’s meant to be a database of,
well, everything, from Shakespeare and Chaucer to web comics to fan fiction.

What was added to author profiles and book pages?

Here’s the part I’m not clear on. I understand that artwork was
added as covers to fanfic that was either unattributed, or wasn’t intended for
that fic. And that’s wrong, and shouldn’t have happened. A simple email to GR
support or a request to a librarian would have sorted it out in minutes though.

There’s also been some talk of writers worrying about being
outed, and stories of people who’ve lost jobs and custody of kids for writing
“smut”. Erotica writer here, you’re preaching to the choir. But I don’t think
that linking from a GR author page to an AO3 profile is suddenly going to bust
the whole thing open. How could it? If any information other than that was
added, then yes, that was wrong. But I’m not aware of any incidents where that
happened, and I’m not sure how it could
happen if the information wasn’t already available online anyway.

Fanfic is for fandom

You read Sterek? You recommend Sterek? You
spend a lot of time at A03 leaving comments and kudos for Sterek? Surprised to
find you’re not part of the fandom? So were many of us.

I’ve spoken to a lot of people in private groups who are absolutely
gutted, because all the Tumblr posts going around about “fanfic is for the
fandom only” make them feel like they’re not allowed to be part of the club
when their only crime was to love something they read and want to share it with
their friends.

I can’t pretend to be an expert on the
fandom culture, except to say that I’ve seen enough posts in the last few days
from writers who have no problem with their works being added to the GR
database to suspect that the writers acting as the gatekeepers of fandom have
no mandate to do so. And, as one prolific fanfic writer put so eloquently: Fandom is where fandom goes. Well, here
we are.

The culture clash

I understand that the fanfic community is very different than
the one on GR, but most of the people reading and reviewing fanfic on GR are
doing it because they love the fandom. It may be accepted practice on AO3 not
to offer any criticism, constructive or otherwise, and I have some sympathy for
writers who have checked out their works on GR and suddenly discovered they
have star ratings.

But that’s how we do things here. That’s how we approach what we
read. And as a writer, you can’t actually control how readers interact with
your work. To those of us on GR, reviewing and recommending fics here is no
different than doing it when we connect on Facebook or Tumblr or anywhere else
online. GR is how I’ve found so many wonderful fics that I otherwise would
never have read. And that is why they were added to GR – because people were so
enthusiastic about them that they wanted to share them with their friends.

“Someone
that reads gay fiction and goes to GR is not the same as someone from the TW
fandom that reads gay sterek fic with mpreg on AO3”

That’s an
actual quote from an actual Tumblr post. Google it if you want to find it. Like
I said, I’m not linking. And I’ve only got one thing to say in relation to that
statement anyway: Bullshit. Bull-fucking-shit.

I read gay
fiction. I read and write m/m fiction (not the same as gay fiction BTW.
Ironically, m/m fiction has its origins in slash). And I also read gay Sterek
fic with mpreg, A/B/O, and whatever other tropes you want to throw in there. I
love them all.

And so do
the hundreds (possibly more, I haven’t counted) of other GR members who are
part of the various fanfiction groups. But you just go on worrying that we
don’t understand the tropes you’re using because apparently fanfic is a
different language that we can’t possibly, you know, pick up by reading it.
Like you all did.

You do not own fanfiction.

In the past few days I’ve seen a few
writers claiming their “intellectual property” is being shared without their
permission. And here’s where I have a real issue. Yes, you wrote your fanfic,
but you don’t own it. In the case of Sterek, MTV owns those characters.

Sidenote: I also saw a particularly
hilarious disclaimer on A03 that stated:

“I
do not give permission to this work being read aloud and/or shared with the
press, or anyone working on said production of Teen Wolf, including but not
limited to cast, crew, writers, or producers. I also do not give permission
share this work on third-party websites such as Goodreads, which I believe is a
resource intended for published works outside of fandom.”

I read
it aloud anyway. Like the fucking rebel I am. Again though, here’s the
misunderstanding of what Goodreads is. Goodreads is for any published works,
and yes, that includes works published online. And yes, that includes fanfic.

I absolutely believe that
fanfiction only exists because studios and copyright holders allow it to
exist. It's an act of goodwill, and most copyright holders recognise the fact
that fanfiction, in all its forms, is good for their bottom line. I know that
I've dropped money on the Teen Wolf DVDs because of Sterek, and I'm sure I'm
not the only one.

I also believe though, that once
fanfic writers start calling fanfiction their "intellectual property"--something
I've seen thrown around in a few places the last couple of days--it will cause
copyright holders to sit up and pay attention.

P2P

If claiming ownership will cause
copyright holders to sit up and take notice, it will be P2P that might just
force them to take action. In my opinion, fanfiction writers who think they own
their fanfic and who pull it to publish will be more damaging to the fanfic
culture that anyone reviewing and sharing recs on any platform including GR
will ever be.

Interestingly, one of the most vocal of the
fanfic writers is a writer who is publishing a non-fanfic book soon. This book,
which will retail for around $12 on Amazon, is a former Glee fanfic that has
been pulled to publish. Except last time I checked it hadn’t actually been
pulled, it was still on AO3. In short, she has an issue with people sharing
fanfic recommendations on Goodreads, but no issue attempting to make money off
something she built using someone else’s intellectual property. And it doesn’t
matter if the thing is as far removed from the original as Fifty Shades was
from Twilight. In my opinion, it’s ethically wrong.

Maybe a Find & Replace of all
the names is actually legally enough to get the work considered transformative.
Legally and ethically aren’t always the same thing and, personally, I hate P2P fanfic
and refuse to purchase it.

But hold
on, isn’t Goodreads removing fanfics?

Yes, yes
it is. Despite their own guidelines, GR has been removing fics at the request
of fanfic authors. They don’t have to, but they are. Which means that all of
those lengthy reviews with hundred of comments and gifs and pics are also being
removed. And people are upset about that.

On GR we
make friends over the reviews were share and the books we love. Those reviews
and those conversations are now being deleted. Some people have lost tens of
reviews, if not more. That’s a lot of hours of work, and you know why they did
it in the first place? Because they loved a story and wanted to share it.

Oh, and
I write fanfic too.

Yeah, I do. Just started, but it’s going to
be a thing for me. Because it’s fun, and I like to share it with people, both
on AO3 and here. And I know a lot of writers who do the same. AO3 and GR aren’t
oil and water. They aren’t matter and anti-matter. You don’t have to pick a
side, really.

You’ll find me on AO3 as Discontented
Winter.

Feel free to share, recommend, or rate my fics
any way or anywhere you like.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Christmas is one of those occasions
that always looks different in the brochure, right? Well, you know, if there
was an actual brochure. But the plethora of Christmas advertising shoved at
your face this time of year serves the same purpose. Al those beautiful,
smiling people in lovely sweaters, perfectly symmetrical faces bathed in the
glow of the lights form the impeccably decorated Christmas tree. Ugh. I hate
those people. I want to jab their eyes out with candy canes.

Christmas, to me and to any other
inhabitant of the southern hemisphere, is always a little weird. We’re
bombarded with carols about winter wonderlands, and sleigh rides, and our
shopping centres are decorated with massive snowflakes and fake glittery
icicles. Santa’s grotto is a little piece of the North Pole right between the
food court and the department store. Meanwhile, it’s so stinking hot outside
that the road surface is melting.

I told JA Rock the other day that
Christmas gives Australian kids a strong grounding in cynicism. You try and
watch TV at Christmas and see something without snow. Or a fireplace. Or a
sled. Those Christmas movies don’t exist. Our version of Christmas is never the
one played out on TV.

Our version of Christmas—at least here
in the tropics—is one where the house smells of ripe mango. It’s the one where
you spend ages in line at the seafood place late on Christmas Eve to pick up
the prawns and Moreton Bay bugs. It the one where you’ve never had a turkey,
because who the hell wants to stand in a sweltering hot kitchen when you should
be relaxing with a cool drink instead? Cold cuts and salad.

Which isn’t to say that I’ll be doing
much of that this year either. When my alarm goes at 5 a.m. I won’t be leaping
out of bed to see what Santa brought. I’ll be getting ready for work instead. And
you know what’s weird? I don’t actually mind. Because I generally like the
people I work with, so getting to spend half of Christmas day with them is
actually a good thing. We’re having a Secret Santa, and all bringing something
to share for lunch.

Then, in the afternoon, I’ll be hanging
out with my Mum (since the rest of the extended family is having an actual
white Christmas in Germany, damn them) and we’ll probably do an early dinner
and catch up with friends and play stupid board games.

Then, in the one Christmas tradition my
family accidentally developed, we’ll pull out a jigsaw puzzle at my Mum’s
place, clear the dining table and every time someone passes the table, they’ll
take a few moments to work on the puzzle. We usually have the thing finished by
New Year.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Today is release day for Fall on Your Knees, the M/M/m
kinkfest I co-wrote with JA Rock. Fall on Your Knees is part of Loose Id’sRated: XXXmas anthology, which means you also get the awesome Shepherd, Wise Man, and the Little Drummer Boy by E.F. Mulder.

Here's what you need to know about Fall on Your Knees:

Asa and his longtime partner, Javier, are looking forward to a cozy, kinky Christmas together. But when Asa discovers his coworker Drew has nowhere to go for the holidays, he invites Drew home for dinner. His motives aren’t entirely pure: Asa and Javier are both dominant, and occasionally arrange one night stands with submissives. Asa’s been hot for Drew for months, even though he has no proof Drew is kinky.

Drew has wanted Asa since the day they met. Drew could never come between Asa and his partner, but it doesn’t stop him from fantasizing about belonging to Asa. About letting Asa do filthy, painful, incredible things to him. He accepts Asa’s dinner invitation reluctantly, not eager to witness Asa and Javier’s domestic bliss firsthand.

When Javier discovers Drew’s profile on a BDSM site shortly before Drew’s arrival, the game changes. A bold proposition leads to Asa and Jav sharing a night of play and passion with a dinner guest who’s nowhere near as innocent as he looks. But as their not-so-silent night progresses, all three find themselves on shaky ground. Can they keep this no strings attached? Or is there a way for each man to get what he really wants for Christmas?

JA and I had so much fun writing this one. Basically, we
just threw a bunch of kinks and Christmas decorations together, mixed in some
D/s, added a lot of heat, and stood back to see what would happen. What
happened was a total kinkfest.

So. Much. Fun.

Enjoy!

You can buy it here at Loose Id, and hopefully it will be on Amazon and other resellers soon.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Goodreads MM Romance Group nominations for best books of 2014 are out, and...holy crap. I'm blown away! I've probably miscounted, since I ran out of fingers and toes, but I think it's 33 nominations all up!

So thanks to everyone who nominated me, and thanks to my awesome co-writers, JA Rock & Heidi Belleau, and thanks especially to everyone who read something I wrote this year!

And here are my nominations:

Woot!

When All the World SleepsAnother Man's TreasureSweetwater

The Boy Who BelongedMark Cooper versus AmericaWhen All the World Sleeps

Another Man's TreasureMark Cooper versus AmericaWhen All the World Sleeps

When All the World Sleeps

Mark Cooper versus AmericaBrandon Mills versus the V-Card

Another Man's TreasureBlissKing of Dublin

Another Man's TreasureWhen All the World Sleeps

Sweetwater

Another Man's TreasureBliss

Brandon Mills versus the V-CardThe Dreams You Made in the Dirt

The Boy Who Belonged

Bliss

Sweetwater

The Dreams You Made in the Dirt

Brandon Mills versus the V-CardThe Dreams You Made in the Dirt

The Dreams You Made in the Dirt

Mark Cooper versus AmericaBrandon Mills versus the V-Card

Wow. That is just insane, right? And just about the best end to the year that I could hope for!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Well, I’m back from GRL. Okay, I know everyone’s probably
already finished talking about GRL since they all got home ages ago, but I only
got home last week. If I had to fly halfway around the world to go to GRL, I
was taking some extra time to see some of the US while I was at it.

I met some wonderful people at GRL, way too numerous to
mention here. Seriously, I’m not mentioning names because I know that I’ll
leave someone out. A special shout out has to go to JA Rock and Lori Toland, my roomies. And, of course, my favourite roomie - the professor. OMG, look at that face:

It was fantastic to meet all those people I’ve only ever
met online before – the readers, the bloggers, and the other writers who make
the MM community a great place to be.

I had quite a few fangirl moments, and was totally
gobsmacked when some people had them in relation to me. In fact, I thinkI’m still gobsmacked about that. To me,
writing is something that happens at odd hours of the night when I’m in my
pyjamas and rocking out to eighties music. The idea that it somehow produces
real books, let alone real fans, is still incredible to me.

So thankyou to everyone I met, and, if I somehow managed to miss you, I’m going to try very hard to make San Diego.

Meanwhile, while I took the month off from blogging because
I was having too much fun, Brandon Mills versus the V-Card happened. JA Rock and I
are writing the third book in the series now – Liam McDermott versus Authority.
It’s a return to the kink of the first book, and maybe a little more angst.
Let’s just say Liam has some issues.

JA and I are also working on another book in the Boy series
– it’s time to revisit Lane and Derek, and Brin and Ferg and, naturally, Mr.
Zimmerman. While I don’t want to give away any spoilers at this point, I just
want to say that Mr. Zimmerman is going to get soul mate. And, in other Boy
news, The Boy Who Belonged is now available in paperback. Also included in the
paperback is the Brin-centric short story, The Naughty Boy. Yay!

It’s the season of short stories, apparently. JA and I have
one coming out in December, Fall on Your Knees. It’s M/M/m, and a part of Loose
Id’s Rated XXXmas anthology, which is so far scheduled for release on December 16. And it’s
a total, total kinkfest. You will never look at gingerbread the same way again. You’re welcome!

Meanwhile, Heidi Belleau and I wrote a short story for
Riptide’s BDSM anthology, Rules to Live By. Our story is called The Harder They Fall, and did anyone
say daddy kink?

I'll be sharing more about both the anthologies as soon as I can!

So, that’s the state of play at the moment. I’m home, and
I’m trying to get as much work done as I can. And I am not at all spending too
many hours a day reading Sterek fan fiction. Or writing it. Not. At. All…

Friday, October 24, 2014

I was really, really sad that GRL ended. Why can't I live in a nice hotel all year round and talk about writing smutty scenes with hot guys all the time? Is that really too much to ask? I don't think so.

GRL was fantastic, obviously, Also, JA Rock and I announced (well, I announced it first, in public, so we can't later change our minds) that we are writing a third book in the Boy series. What have Derek and Lane been up to? Going by the response to this news in the BDSM panel, people actually do want to know! So we'll be starting writing that as soon as I get home from the US and am not relying on other people's computers.

We may have also planned out about the next seven months of writing projects. Shit got real. Also, there was wine. And Maltesers.

And guess what's out in only four more days? It's Brandon Mills versus the V-Card! Dinosaurs and cute, shy guys and omigod! I really hope you guys love this one. Brandon and Alex are much, much sweeter than Mark and Deacon, and we have some all-important awkward first time sex in this one. First time sex in books and movies is usually choreographed so beautifully, isn't it? Nobody ever gets an elbow in the face or an inappropriate attack of the giggles.

And in other awesome news, The Two Gentlemen of Altona is available for preorder on Amazon! Yay! You should order it. Oh, and also get some Skittles and donuts. You'll want those!

So, to sum up. Chicago was fantastic. San Francisco is fantastic. I'll be home in a week, and hanging around on FB and Goodreads again then! See you soon!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Smart, shy Prescott sophomore
Brandon Mills is working hard to overcome his troubled past and be normal. With
the help of his friends Mark and Deacon, and his brothers at Phi Sigma Kappa,
he’s slowly coming out of his shell. But when he accidentally drenches a
freshman in orange soda, he faces something he’s not ready for: a boy crushing
on him.

Alex Kekoa pledges Phi Sig because
it has everything he wants: a house full of nerds who won’t tease him for being
smart, a dog, and Brandon Mills. Brandon is just the type of guy Alex needs to
help fulfill his college ambition: losing his virginity. Except Alex doesn’t
know that Brandon can’t stand to touch or be touched.

When Alex and Brandon are drafted
onto the Phi Sig Academic Challenge team, their mutual attraction grows. If
there’s anyone who can help Brandon discover it feels good to touch and kiss,
maybe it’s klutzy Alex with his cute glasses and his dinosaur obsession. But as
the competition--and their relationship--heats up, Alex’s determination not to die
a virgin clashes with Brandon’s vow of lifelong celibacy, forcing them to
examine what’s truly important to each of them about love.

Also, if you're not following Queer Romance Month, you should be. Seriously check it out though, because there are a lot of fantastic posts over there, and a lot of awesome stuff to win. JA and I wrote a post talking about coming out, and why we don't deal with it much in our writing -- until Brandon -- but how it's still a big deal in the real world, and will be for a long time.